Update on the Shop Name Contest and Giveaway

Let me first say thank you to those who have participated in the contest. There's a lot of good names rolling in, but there's still time for more if you haven't sent any in, and even if you have, you can still send in more. There is no limit to how many names you can send in and who knows, but one of the names you send in may be the one we are looking for.

As you can see I have updated the picture and I added a Tag Line that one of our participants sent in: 'Serving Him in Ruffles and Frills' and a theme word that I thought of when I read the tag line.

So with that said, start sending in some more names.


You can see the original instructions and the list of prizes here

Creations by Jessi Name Contest and Giveaway

You saw right! Changes are happening in our shops, and one of those changes is the shop name for Creations by Jessi. And we want you to help us come up with a name!


Here's how you can help!
Think of a name that fits our theme. 
     -- The name doesn't have to include the words in our theme, those are just ideas. You can come up with whatever just as long as it fits our theme. 

Send in your name or names. (The more names you come up with, the more entries you get.)
    -- You can comment down below, through email (if I sent this to you via email), or you can enter on Instagram/ @ creationsbyjessi and @kraftiekidz or on facebook/ Teresa Gazaway Backer ( just please make sure you read the instructions. The rules may be a bit different for social media.) 
    -- One name entry per comment. Unless you are emailing me then you can send it all in one email. Just make sure I know they are individual name possibilities. 


The contest will end August 31 and on September 1 we will have a team of judges go through all the names and if your name is chosen as the new shop name than you will win the main prize. The judges will also choose a second winner for the runner up prize.
For the instagram and facebook winners will be chosen useing random.org (Remember to read the rules for the social media contest because there will be extra opportunities for extra entry spots.)

 
The prizes will be as follows
 Main prize for best shop name - $25.00 gift certificate for Creations by Jessi or if you are local a $25.00 gift certificate for Shoppes on Trade.
Runner Up Prize - $10.00 off item of your choice (CreationsbyJessi)
Random Winner from Instagram - Fall Banner from KraftieKidz
Random Winner from Facebook - Fall Banner from KraftieKidz


Good Luck! And remember the more names you come up with the more entries you earn just remember one name per comment unless you emailing me. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what all y'all come up with. So get your thinking caps on and start sending in those names! 

Photo Shoot with a CreationsbyJessi Model

Thursday I had a photo shoot with one of our little models from church. And let me tell you, it can get mighty interesting when using young ones as models. And as you can see for yourself I got more photos of one dress than of the other.

Princess waving to her audience.

 I made the wand that we used in some of the pictures. I plan on adding them to the shop in the future but I was not completely satisfied with the finished product so I need time to perfect them.

By the time we got to this dress she was tired of modeling.

By the way I am an amateur photographer and want to perfect my photography so if you have any tips feel free to comment. I will take all the help I can get.

Goodbye 2014, Welcome 2015!

Happy New Year Everybody!

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to what's ahead for this year. God blessed us in so many ways during 2014. He blessed both KraftieKidz and CreationsbyJessi with sales, (Even though KraftieKidz sales slacked off towards the end of the year it did way better than in 2013) He helped us find the local craft market and opened up a door to sell in a local boutique shop; We have a website in the works, and we even got new machines for both businesses!

I am thrilled at what God did for us, and I am exited to see what God will do in 2015!

Here are my Goals for 2015. Remember some of these rolled off of last year's list.

2015 Goals for KraftieKidz
- Double what I made in 2014  This is more of a wish than a goal; but then again I can't sale what I don't make or list, so I guess it can be considered a goal. 
- Write my about page
- Have 150 items in my shop by my birthday (April 21) and over 200 items by the end of the year
-  Have a bigger inventory of valentine's day, birthday, mother's day, father's day, graduation, baby, and Christmas than I did in 2014
- Add more gift card holders
- Add more colors and themes to table confetti sets
- Add more birthday and baby themes to banner section
- Add a wedding section
- Post more on Instagram    Preferably every day or at least every other day 
- Blog more    Preferably more than once a week 
- Connect my Instagram and blog together     In so doing this I should achieve both blogging and posting more on Instagram 
- Connect both my Instagram and blog to my shop
- Pin items at least twice a week   One day pin items from KraftieKidz and CreationsbyJessi, and one day pin items from other shops
- Help Mama with her Social Media promoting

Other Goals
- Make birthday cards for the kids in my church
- Learn how to use different techniques and mediums for cardmaking as well as make cards using the different layouts I don't normally use
- Be a Godly witness and example to those around me and those I come in contact with. Whether at church, through the local craft market, social media, or even through etsy; which is sometimes even harder because it's hard to read people's emotions and attitudes correctly, but definitely still doable.


Like last year, I may not reach all of these goals, but it's nice to write out a list and then work one day at a time to achieve those goals.

So what are your goals for 2015? I would love to see them.

Jessica

2014 In Review

Well we are already at another new year which means new goals and new resolutions. But before we make new goals and new resolutions why don't we review the goals we made at the beginning of 2014.

Here are the goals I posted earlier this year or better yet at the end of 2013:

2014 Goals for KraftieKidz
- Double what I made in 2013   2013 ended with 86 sales and $437.81 in revenue, and 2014 ended with 64 sales and $668.59. That's not exactly doubling but that's still pretty good.
- Write my about page 
- Have about 240 items listed by my birthday (April 21) and 300 or more listed by the end of the year.  I am far from that.
- Have a bigger inventory birthday, mother's day, father's day, christmas, valentines day, and graduation cards, than I did in 2013.   I made more in birthday and graduation, but didn't get around to listing all of them. I made more Christmas as well, but didn't  get to list them all; I sold most of them locally. I also had a bigger inventory for back to school.
- Add wedding and baby cards.   I added baby cards.
- Add more colors and themes to die cut sets.    Done.
- Add gift card holders, magnets, clothes pins, and paper clips.    I added a few gift cards.


Other Goals
- Make and list jewelry in our other shop.
- Learn how to sew simple items.   I have learned how to sew. Now I plan to start helping mama with sewing the simple skirts very soon.
- Make birthday cards for all the little kids in church.   I started with the 1-3 year olds. 
- Blog more.    I did blog more this year than in 2013, but not by much.



Other goals that I achieved that are not listed:
- Opening an instagram account
- Opening a pintrest account
- Selling in a local boutique shop
- Selling at local craft markets


I'm a little bummed that I didn't accomplish more but looking at the whole list I did achieve a good bit. I'll just work even harder next year.

My next post I will share my goals for 2015. (All of these goals will roll over into next year.)

But before I do, I will leave you with some pictures taken throughout the year.

Happy New Year!

KraftieKidz & CreationsbyJessi's Very First Craft Show

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted. I have been super duper busy since my last post.
 I'll briefly bring you up to date.

In September we found a local craft show that looked interesting; so we went and checked it out. (We have been looking for a local craft show that wasn't too expensive for a booth.) And we met a lady who owns a local gift shop filled with handmade or repurposed items from different vendors. (I'll write a post on that later) When we told her that mom (Teresa) makes girls skirts and dresses, and that I (Jessica) makes cards and other paper items, and that my brother, Daniel does photography. She wanted us to come in and see her shop. We find out later that she has been looking for another vendor who makes girls clothes since the vendor who has been making the clothes is leaving her.

So in October we started selling our skirts and dresses in Shoppes on Trade. And so far it has been a wonderful experience. We have had quite a few custom orders through the shop. Shelly, the owner of the gift shop, has even sent a customer my way who was needing a custom birthday banner.



Ok, now for something more recent.

This past weekend we had our first craft show. (technically this was our second show but the first wasn't much of a craft show so I am calling this our first.) And it was so much fun! We may have only sold three items (one skirt, and two cards) but we got to mingle and fellowship with some of the other vendors.

Here are some pictures we took.

I had forgotten the banner I made for our booth so I had to have mama bring it with her when she came back.

Here's our booth with the banner on it.

 It was so cold after the sun went down that they brought out barrels and chopped up wood pallets to make a fire. And if you didn't have customers at your booth you could go warm up at the fire. (Sorry this wasn't a very good picture.)

Overall our experience with the weekend show was great. We learned valuable lessons and got wonderful ideas for our booth display and what we thought might would sell better at the next show. We even gleaned information from customers who stopped by to ask if we had certain cards in a set or if we had a different color in a certain card design. My brother even had a lady tell him he should offer his color penciled cards in a set not just individualy. I loved it that the customers weren't bashful to ask if we had something, because it lets us know what customers are looking for.



Next time I will post more about Shoppes on Trade and our experience with it.

New Baby Banners and Toddler Dresses

I know you have already heard me say this but sorry it's been so long since I blogged. I have been super busy since last month. I've missed blogging weekly and I haven't been able to make and list items as much as I would have liked either. 

Now just because I am busy doesn't mean my shop is lacking. Though looking at my shop inventory it doesn't look it but March was a big month for me. I ended the month with 10 most of which were baby banners and over $100 in revenue. That's 4 sales more than March 2013 and $84 more in revenue.

Here is some new items. 

Purple Polka Dot Butterfly Banner

It's A Girl Banner

Both banners were custom but the Butterfly banner was a customer's creation. ( I personally would not have used that much purple but that was what she wanted and was quite pleased with the finished product. )

Here's some new items from creationsbyjessi

(Except for the extra pink, this was also a customer's creation.)

Well that is all; hopefully I can get back to listing more items. 

Have a great rest of the week!

Birthday Cards and Teddy Bear Baby Banner

Sorry I didn't post last week. I had every intention on blogging but I got real busy and then I couldn't find my pictures so I just decided to take a week off.

Here's the two cards that I was going to post last week.

This one was for one of the ladies in our church

Here is the other baby banner I kept promising and the card to match

Another birthday card

Here's some new items from creationsbyjessi

Shop News

I wanted to take a little bit and let you know how my Etsy shop, KraftieKidz,  has been doing since the first of the year. I am happy to report that I have seven sales so far, two sales being my John Deere baby banners that I custom make. I have also been busy listing items; I try to list at least two new items daily (except Sunday)  plus renew expired listings. I'll share some of those new listings at the end of the post.

In other news I have two birthday cards that I have just about finished for two of the kids at church and I will be sharing those soon. (Remember, making birthday cards for the little kids at church was one of my goals for 2014.)  I also have two baby banners to make for two upcoming showers plus die cuts to match. So that will be two different banner and die cut colors and themes to add to the shop.

Can't you tell I'm excited about 2014?

Here are some of the items that are new to KraftieKidz

Here's one of the new items from creationsbyjessi